AFC East-leading Bills refreshed coming out of bye week and looking ahead to host 49ers

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Gratifying as it was for Sean McDermott to catch up with his family and get some rest during Buffalo’s bye week, the Bills coach on Wednesday found comfort returning to his weekly routine and familiar wardrobe — a gray T-shirt and sweatpants.

“When I’m not wearing those, I go to my closet and I don’t know what to wear. I’m kind of like not myself,” he said before pulling up his hoodie for emphasis to reveal the gray shirt he had on underneath. “So I was telling some of the guys this morning, ‘It’s good to be back.’”

Though there remain challenges ahead, these are upbeat times in Buffalo.

The Bills (9-2) are off to their best start since 1992. They remain in contention for the AFC’s top seed by entering their break following a 30-21 win over Kansas City (10-1).

And Buffalo is in position to clinch its fifth straight AFC East title as early as Sunday. To do so, the Bills would need Miami to lose to Green Bay on Thursday night, and Buffalo to win its game over San Francisco (5-6) on Sunday night.

Buffalo has won six straight since back-to-back losses at Baltimore and Houston, and scored 30 or more points in each of its past five outings.

Refreshed as McDermott sounded and appeared, it didn’t take long for him to revert to his game-at-a-time script when assessing what’s on the line this weekend.

“We’re mostly focused on our level of play this week against a good football team,” he said.

McDermott shed little light on the status of Buffalo’s lengthy list of injured players.

There’s no timetable yet on Matt Milano being activated off injured reserve, even though the starting linebacker practiced fully for the first time since tearing his left biceps during a training camp practice in mid-August. Milano has actually missed nearly 14 months since sustaining a season-ending injury to his right leg in Week 5 last season.

Milano revealed little during a brief interview following practice.

“I feel all right. Getting back into it with the team,” said Milano, who no longer wore a red non-contact jersey in practice.

Meantime, rookie receiver Keon Coleman, who has missed two games with a right wrist injury, and starting right tackle Spencer Brown, who missed one game with an ankle injury, were limited in practice. Tight end Dalton Kincaid (knee) was Buffalo's only player not practicing.

The Bills also opened the three-week window for backup rookie defensive tackle DeWayne Carter (wrist) and backup offensive lineman Tylan Grable (groin) to return.

McDermott has another positive going for him revolving around the bye week. The Bills are 8-0 coming out of their break since McDermott took over as coach in 2017.

“I don’t really have the, hey, this is exactly what we do formula,” McDermott said on whether he’s changed his bye week approach. “It’s more of us really just getting back to what we do, getting back to basics.”

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